When we were shopping for a mortgage a few months ago, the spread between the five initial quotes I got was about 0.5%. Some people tried to tell me that the new lending standards were so strict that all lenders were going to give me basically the same rate, but that turned out to be complete bullshit. Our eventual loan was almost a full point lower than some of the quotes I was given. Every single lender I talked to made me at least one better offer than their own original quote.
I also had several lender reps tell me they would match or beat any other written offer I got. I took each and every one of them up on that offer, sending them all copies of the lowest quote I got by email. About half of them told me the rates I was being quoted were impossibly low and there was no way they could match that, despite their earlier promises. A few told me they tried but couldn't get down that far. In the end I had two competing offers going back and forth, each out-bidding the other. I finally got tired of the game, picked the lowest one, and they totally delivered on time and as promised.
It was a hassle for about a week to deal with all of it, but I figure it saved us many tens of thousands of dollars in the long run to get our rate down. The whole thing did leave a slightly dirty taste in my mouth, as each lender tried a different tactic to get me to sign with them and not their competition. Some common lines..
1. "That rate can't be right, if they're telling you that they must be lying."
2. "Who's that? I've never heard of them, they must not be a reputable company"
3. "Being in this business so long, I've heard a lot of horror stories about them, I'd be careful."
4. "They won't be able to close on time, you'll end up paying more when they can't get it together."
5. "All lenders are so tightly regulated now, you should just decide today while rates are low because everyone will be the same."
6. "We do all of our own underwriting so we won't sell your mortgage, unlike those other guys."
7. "That's just a teaser rate, that rate just isn't available on the marketplace right now."
All complete BS.